Electrical connectors having built-in indicator lights have been known for some time. In these connectors, the indicator lights typically are located at the front of the connector. A typical connector may include an integral LED device to emit a light which indicates an operational function such as the reception or transmission of data or voice signals, verification of a good connection between separate pieces of equipment, indication when power is on or off, indication of a defect in a network transmission or any other state or condition in the equipment with which the connector is operatively associated.
Visual light indicating connectors are popular in modular jacks or similar types of connectors commonly used in telecommunications and data networking equipment. These jacks often are mounted on a circuit board to which they are to be connected. Problems have been encountered in incorporating such light indicating devices, such as LED devices, directly onto the connector due to the ever increasing miniaturization and density of telecommunications and data networking equipment.
For instance, electrical connector assemblies in the form of modular jack assemblies include a singular housing having a plurality of receptacles for receiving a complementary plurality of mating plugs. The housing typically is mountable on a printed circuit board. In order to provide light indicating devices for each of the bank or array of receptacles, there simply is not enough space to mount the desired LED devices, for instance, between or around the array of receptacles. In addition, the receptacles typically are arranged in one or more vertical stacks or columns and, if the indicating devices are positioned between the stacked receptacles, the cables of the plugs which are inserted into the receptacles hang down and obscure the light indicating devices. The present invention is directed to solving these various problems.